Resin or feathers? (BJD wing question!)

I'm a sucker for real feathers, especially on posable wings. Resin wings can also be really gorgeous if they're sculpted well though! It sort of depends on the aesthetic of the doll they're going on.

 

I like both, but here's what I think in detail:

RESIN
Pro
- you can airbrush/paint it any way you want, again and again
- ages better
- you can get designs/paintjobs that are otherwise not possible (like translucent wings or metallic)
- you can get non-feather wings designs
Con
- very heavy
- posing is often limited
- difficult to ship (risk to break)

FEATHERS
Pro
- high realism
- if wire is added, posing can be great
- less weight, especially when you want reaaally big wings
Con
- lots of work
- feathers age badly
- good looking, real feathers are expensive and importing of both feathers/finished wings is not allowed in some countries
- fixed colors/design

In case of feather wings I am talking about those feather wings like syrinxfox made them, not like those decoration ones with fake feathers.

 

How would you connect feather wings if they were like harpy arms though?
That's another thing to consider. In the case of what I THINK you're describing, all resin might work better just for practicality. Hmm.

 

It sounds like a hybrid of something like Soom's resin Galena wings on Soul Doll's "four-armed" Shiva torso might be close to what you're looking for? (Wings strung in the upper set of arm holes, regular arms in the lower?)

The fit might take some work... I suspect you'd need to do some sanding and reshaping to fit the wings to the shoulder sockets properly... and neither those wings nor that body are particularly easy to get ahold of, but it would be an interesting project.

 

lol, can they give the spider people and their 16 limbs of craziness a run for their money? *snicker*

mmm msd jointed wings, there's gotta be some somewhere right?
RS will definitely drill and mod extra holes, they gave me a quote recently for it where they broke it all down. It's something like $50 for the mod itself. Seems fair enough given the resin toxins and such you'd need to protect yourself from doing it at home.

 

I would compromise with foam feather wings.



They are very posable, a lot of cosplayers use them, and there are some beauties out there. Do a search on "foam feather wings."

 

I'm in the resin camp-- fabulous as some real feather wings look, I live with someone who's highly allergic... and with two cats who might mistake feather wings for a fun toy in the middle of a photoshoot!

 

I prefer ones made of fabric or sculpted out of clay.

I haven't made any for on-topic dolls, but it's pretty easy (but labor intensive) to either sculpt articulated wings with air-dry clay, or make them out of foam/fabric.

I prefer these because they have some realism (they are often more realistic than feathers for smaller dolls because 1:1 scale feathers are too big), and are sturdier than feathers. You can also make them in a variety of colors, they age better than feathers and don't shed.

 

Resin for me. Feathers look nice in the beginning, but they dry out and start to look ratty as they age. Some types also shed fibers like mad, making the doll look like it's covered in cat hair. Lastly, I personally have found feathers to be a little high maintenance. Several of my off-topic dolls wear feathers of some sort, and the feathers are difficult to dust off. The dust settles into the feathers and makes them look groady.

On the other hand, feathers are easy to replace if they do get ratty, and they're inexpensive! So I can see both points of view. But if given a choice I'll take resin wings over feathered ones for my dollies.

 

I like both resin wings and real feathers, but with my bird guy I went the feather route. The feathers just make the wing look so much more real, in my opinion.

 

I find resin wings generally too heavy and inflexible. I went the feather route when I made my articulating wings (shown here). I looked into making fake feathers with fabric or plastic but wasn't happy with my attempts. Sigh.

 

I made a pair of gigantic wings out of real feathers. They still look really good and not ratty at all, and they are about 7 years old by now. They also were really inexpensive, as I simply collected them over a long period of time.

They are for 70 cm dolls though, and are the doves' flight feathers.

 

Depends on what type of wings we are talking about here. I like the resin ones on Soom’s new version Viol, but feather wings would look perfect on dolls as well on their back

 

I prefer resin overall. If it’s well sculpted they can be very beautiful! I like the long lasting factor and the option to repaint them.